I tweaked my traditional chocolate cake recipe to make a gluten-free, lactose-free and low-sugar chocolate cake that’s still rich, moist, and decadent! 

This decadent, balanced cake is a great option for those looking for something delicious and chocolatey, without compromising their diet.
Each slice is also low FODMAP and has a lower glycemic impact than other chocolate cakes!

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INGREDIENTS

Dry Ingredients

• 240 g (2 cups) gluten-free flour mix
• 63 g (¾ cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
• • 200 g (1 cup) white sugar
  8 g (2 tsp) baking powder
• • 9 g (1½ tsp) baking soda
• Optional: 2–3 drops liquid stevia or a pinch of powdered stevia
• 2.8 g (1 tsp) salt
• • 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)

Wet Ingredients

• 240 ml (1 cup) lactose-free milk
• 114 g / ½ cup oil (I use melted coconut oil)
• 2 large eggs (100 g total)
• • 9.4 g (2 tsp) vanilla extract
• • 240 ml (1 cup) boiling water or hot coffee

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Grease two 9-inch pans with butter or line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients:
   Gluten-free flour, cocoa, sugar, optional stevia, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder.
3. Add lactose-free or plant milk, oil, eggs and vanilla to the dry mixture and mix until combined (I recommend using a stand mixer on low to medium speed). Do not overmix!
4. Carefully add boiling water or hot coffee and mix until smooth.
5. Pour cake batter into the pans and bake for 22-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.
7. FROST! For the frosting I used a lactose-free, less sweet American buttercream. Get the recipe here:

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RECIPE NOTES AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Gluten-Free Flour

• Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
• You can also use regular all-purpose flour if you don’t need the cake to be gluten-free.

Sugar Options

• This recipe uses 200 g white sugar, which provides sweetness and structure to the cake without being overwhelming. In the cake, the sugar is spread across many servings, so it’s more suitable on low-FODMAP.
• Coconut sugar can be used in this recipe, but note that it won’t be low FODMAP per slice.
• For a lower-sugar option, you can replace up to 30% of the sugar with erythritol or allulose, but any may affect texture.

Milk

• Any milk works, but I recommend lactose-free whole milk or coconut milk.

Oil

• I use coconut oil, but you can use any neutral oil.

Stevia (optional)

• Use only 2–3 drops liquid stevia or a tiny pinch of powdered stevia; too much can be bitter.

Boiling Water / Hot Coffee

• Coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor but doesn’t make the cake taste like coffee.
• If using coffee, make sure it’s hot when added.

Espresso Powder (Optional)

• Deepens the chocolate flavor.

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LOW-FODMAP notes

• With the amount of sugar and cocoa spread over the full cake, a standard serving of the cake remains low FODMAP.
• Choose lactose-free milk to keep the recipe FODMAP-friendly.
• My buttercream frosting is also lactose-free and FODMAP-friendly: https://bowlsbyalyssa.com/silky-less-sweet-lactose-free-buttercream-frosting

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RECIPE